


starting point

by wynnings



Category: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Platonic Relationships, i just want hakuno and shirou fluff, i mean i wrote it thinking of them as purely platonic but, if you want to see it as romantic then go ahead, is there a war in this au who knows its up to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 12:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9441023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnings/pseuds/wynnings
Summary: Every relationship has to begin somewhere. Shirou decided that starting theirs late was better than not at all.





	

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to my friend who got me off my butt and made me write again! (i love you micch) 
> 
> honestly it isn't a surprise it's hakuno i love her and want her to be happy. so, as a result, here is some hakuno/shirou interaction just to satisfy my need for it as an og archerfucker enjoy!

 

The light of the sun was sinking lazily behind the nearby buildings, accompanied by the noisy chatter of students leaving Homurahara Academy grounds in their dozens, the chime of the school bell fading as the clock ticked on. The excitement among the student body for the upcoming holiday was evident, each of them seemingly filled with joy at the prospect of escaping their work-filled school days, if only for a week.

Shirou wasn’t among them, at least not yet.

He had work to do before he could retire for the day and return home, where Taiga and Sakura were waiting for him as they always were. He had already informed Sakura earlier that he had been called in by the Student Council, specifically Issei, and that he’d be returning late. And once again, she had happily volunteered her assistance in preparing the dinner. Her assistance didn’t come as a surprise anymore; she was practically a member of his family at this point.

However, even if he _had_ accepted the job request as he always did when someone asked him for help; he hadn’t the slightest idea what Issei had in mind for him to do. It was unusual change, since he was usually informed of the basic plan of action that Issei had in mind. There was also the fact that last time he had checked, everything was in pretty good condition and weren’t in need of repair—though, that had been two weeks ago. He wasn’t going to question the ability of his fellow students in the art of damaging school property.

It was with this in mind, laughing softly to himself, he reached the Student Council room. His hand reached out to slide the door open—he had never needed to knock, not when school was out or even when it was in session given how often he helped them out so frequently, but this time the door opened without his assistance. Taking a step backwards in disbelief, he was met face to face with a colossal stack of paperwork.

‘Excuse me.’

Mouth ajar at the idea of floating paperwork seemingly opening the door by itself, he soon realized that was _not_ the case and there was indeed someone holding the bulky stack, even if it was covering their face. _How can they even see?_ But, before he could offer his aid in carrying what was noticeably too much for a single person, the stack along with whoever was holding it had trudged on, leaving Shirou standing at the open door feeling a mix of interest and confusion.

‘What’s wrong?’ Issei appeared just as he was getting over his initial astonishment, looking at him with a curious glance. Shirou opened his mouth to answer but his friend cut him to the chase. ‘Never mind—come in, sit down and I’ll explain what I’m hoping you can do for me.’

It turned out that Issei only wanted him to give a quick inspection on the condition of the radiators, wanting to make sure that they were in functioning condition over the week-long break so the school wouldn’t be icy when the pupils returned. ‘I’ll also be coming in and working on some form-filling that needs to be resolved so I’d appreciate if you could repair any problems, if there _are_ any.’ He had stated, fingers drumming at the table sat in the heart of the room. Shirou did respect Issei’s dedication to the school but as he had figured prior to his arrival, all of the radiators were as adequate as they had been when he last checked them and when he reported this, he was met with a relieved smile and appreciation—along with a cup of tea, as the two sat down to talk before returning home for the day.

‘Oh right, I was wondering—who was in here before I came?’ The idea of the sentient paperwork returned to his mind once he wasn’t absorbed in the structures of pipelines and heating systems.

Issei looked at him oddly for a moment, before coming to understand what his friend was describing. ‘I almost forgot about her. Yes, Kishinami came in to help out with the files that needed sorting—she’s in our class, isn’t she?’ It was extraordinary to hear Issei talking about a girl without so much as an ounce of dread in his voice. He seemed almost laid back at the mention of their fellow student.

Hakuno Kishinami.

Shirou didn’t know much about her despite having been in the same class for two years. Issei seemed to share the sentiment. Put simply, she was plain—a girl who didn’t stand out very much and was lacking in both presence and company. It wasn’t as if she was deliberately acting as a loner, nor did she do anything bad to earn any resentment among her peers— most just brushed her off as being too bland and as a result, she seemed to be without many friends. She didn’t talk in class or outside of it and none spoke to her in turn; it was almost as if their teachers and classmates both forgot she existed during school hours.

The idea of her volunteering to help the Student Council came as a wonder since many suspected she didn’t remain at school once it finished, or at least Shirou did. He had never seen her once class finished for the day, her seat at the back of the room always empty by the time he had packed up his things. It was also common knowledge that Kishinami was not a member of any of the clubs within their Academy. The only time he _had_ seen her after school was when he had seen her walking slightly ahead of him on his journey home—leading to the assumption that she lived nearby.

‘Kishinami? Yeah she is, though I haven’t really spoken to her.’

Issei nodded, taking a sip of his tea before shrugging his shoulders. ‘That’s not a surprise. She’s a pleasant person, I suppose, very to the point and willing to help if you ask her to. The only reason she even started assisting me was because she saw me looking for someone to help out and volunteered when nobody else would. I hadn’t even seen her in the hall, so it came as a bit of a shock to see her suddenly standing there. She seems to be the sort who just… blends in to her surroundings, if I’m perfectly honest.’

 _That isn’t a new way to describe her_ ; Shirou thought dully as he finished his tea and stood up, preparing to leave with his scarf in hand. If anything, their conversation had led to him becoming even _more_ curious about the girl who so few knew anything about—and speak of the devil, a knock at the door led to her entrance, now exposed and lacking the mountain of work she had previously left the room with.

Seeing her face-to-face made him wonder how he had almost forgotten what she looked like at the mention of the girl earlier—she was so unmistakably _Kishinami_.

Her sudden appearance reminded him of when he first seen her in first year and had oddly struck him as familiar, almost as if he had seen her before even though he was certain that they had never met prior to entering high school. _Funny_ , he realized, that he had never followed up on that thought and used it as a reason to chat to her. Given that she was helping out after school when she could just as easily be at home, it was clear she was a nice girl—it almost felt like a pity now, nearly two years on and he had only spoken a few sentences to her at most.

‘President, I’m finished. That’s all you wanted me to do, isn’t it?’

Her voice was noticeably soft but audible, the tone used firm yet polite. Her gaze was steady, staring at the Student Council President until he answered with a firm ‘Yes, that’s all. Thank you, Kishinami’ after clearing his throat. _Maybe he thought she went home_. It _had_ been almost an hour and a half since Shirou had reached the Student Council room— but on the other hand; the amount of paperwork had been pretty monstrous. It must have taken that long to sort through it all.

Kishinami looked at Issei for another moment, lowered her head and bowed shortly. ‘Alright, let me know if you need any more help when we’re back.’ And with that, she spun on her heels and strode out of the room, likely heading in the direction of the lockers to find the bag she was lacking in.

Shirou stood unmoving for a minute; scarf wrapped clumsily around his neck as he pulled on his coat and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Then, with a single-minded look developing on his face, he moved towards the door after shouting a ‘See you later Issei—let me know if you need any help next week!’, though he doubted he could hear it when he was dashing towards the second-year locker area.

‘Kishinami, wait up!’

 

 

Now that he was walking side-by-side with her, Shirou wondered absentmindedly what he should talk about. _Of course it would turn out like this_.

Any conversation topics he might have held a few minutes earlier were drawing a blank in his head as he looked down at the shorter girl, now bundled up in her coat in the face of the cold winter weather. She had seemed stunned at his request to walk home together, but since they lived in the same area she had probably presumed he was being polite—it was quite dark after all, and Shirou _was_ known all over the school for his desire to support people.

‘ _So_ —Kishinami, do you live with your family?’

She took a moment to produce an answer. It came unhurriedly, as if she was thinking about how to sound out every word. ‘I’m staying with my Grandfather. I was pretty sick when I was younger and was in the hospital most of the time—he was the one to look after me. I guess now I try to help him out when I can since he’s gotten older and I can do more than I could back then.’ She opened her mouth once more to continue but stopped, glancing at him before shaking her head. ‘Sorry. That’s a little personal to throw at you all at once.’

‘Not at all, I’m glad to hear more about you,’ he replied smoothly, though in his head he was rather startled by the news. Even if Kishinami was quiet, she never came off as anything but a healthy student. He had not once heard her asking to go to the nurse’s office nor did she seem to take sick days. It brought with it the question of _what_ had been wrong with her, but he supposed he didn’t know her well enough to suddenly ask her such a question. ‘But when you say you help, does that mean you have a part-time job?’

‘Yeah, I help out in a café in town after school a few days a week and on weekends.’

‘And you’re going to be working over the break as well?’

‘Yeah. Grandfather is retired so I work instead. He has a… retirement fund, I guess, but the extra money doesn’t hurt either. Since I’m on a break now, I’m working extra shifts.’

With a finger absentmindedly tugging at end of his scarf, eyes turned up to the sky as they continued walking, he hummed softly under his breath at her reply. He had only been talking to her for what seemed to be a few minutes and already his former image of Kishinami was changing. It seemed people; Shirou included, had merely presumed that she was only what she appeared to be and therefore ended up lacking in the initiative to get to know her further.

Now he felt dreadful for being so presumptuous.

‘Well, if you want, I can help you out over the week. I have no club activities and I’m not working this week either so I have a lot of time to spare.’

She definitely looked flabbergasted when he said that, eyes widening noticeably. In all the times he had seen her in class, Kishinami wore a passive expression and nothing beyond it. Now she looked baffled, probably at the sudden prospect of someone akin to an alien in her life offering to help. ‘… Why would you want to do that?’

 _Good question_ is what most people would think. Shirou didn’t; it just seemed like the right thing to do. He had been impolite to Kishinami, even if it had been undeniably unintentional and without her recognizing it either. However, he had noticed over the course of their walk that she was clearly wearing herself thin with work. Her skin was pale, ignoring the flush that came with the cold weather they were in, alongside dark bags forming under her eyes. _Maybe she hasn’t gotten enough sleep lately._ Volunteering his help seemed like the most sensible and natural thing he could do in this situation.

‘I just do. You seem like you could do with some help and overworking yourself wouldn’t be good either. If you get sick, you won’t be able to help your grandfather like you want to.’

He wasn’t really one to talk on the issue of ‘over-working’.

Kishinami seemed sincerely flustered, mouth hanging slightly open as she moved her focus down to her gloved hands instead of looking up and meeting his firm gaze. ‘Uh, I mean… don’t you need to help out at home? It seems a little silly to help me, a stranger, when—’

‘Seriously, it’s fine. I _like_ helping people, if you haven’t already noticed. Plus, I live by myself.’

Faced with an immovable classmate, resolute in his decision to offer his help whether she liked it or not, Shirou beamed as soon as she sighed a weary ‘alright’ together with a quick ‘you’re a really weird guy, Emiya.’

 

 

Help came sooner than anticipated; with Shirou arriving at her front door the following day a little while after lunch.

He had learned where she lived the evening before. It was, as he had initially suspected, a little further past his own home and the Fujimura residence as well. He had been adamant about taking her all the way home, even if he had to walk by his own in the process. It was the polite thing to do, he had explained, even if she was giving him what he had come to dub her signature look of exasperation.

Despite being in virtually the same neighborhood, her household wasn’t nearly as large as his. It was a small one-story building, but it still looked extremely homely with the effort placed in the immaculate garden that was visible outside the gate. When he said that, she had retorted with a sharp ‘thanks’. After speaking with her for an extended period of time on their walk, Shirou had come to understand Kishinami had a habit of being _very_ sarcastic. It was kind of funny, he mused, that if someone _ever_ decided to get to know her, they’d probably be very shocked at the amount of snide she could throw back at them. It wasn’t exactly something people would expect Kishinami to act like.

‘You mentioned you wanted to go shopping yesterday, didn’t you?’

That was true, but she had _also_ said she _couldn’t_ go shopping, come home and go to work without being late—and losing her job wasn’t on the schedule. She was understandably about to voice that particular problem, evident from the development of clear frustration in her eyes, before he spoke up first, a hand raised to stop her in her tracks. ‘If I go with you, you can go straight to work once we’re finished and I’ll bring whatever you buy back here. That way you won’t be late and you’ll have everything you need.’

‘Are you deliberately trying to go for the hero of the people vibe Emiya?’

He didn’t answer her, taking her sarcastic tone in his stride by waiting at the entrance of her flat while she gathered her belongings. Then, before she knew it, she was at the supermarket, basket in hand with Shirou looking over her shoulder at the list she had brought with her.

‘I was thinking I could help you make something for your grandfather. Something good for his health, since you mentioned he was retired. I know a couple of recipes—and yes, I like cooking so it isn’t a bother.’ He added at the end, purely to stop any objections before they were brought up by the girl beside him, who was now furrowing her brows and looking almost too determinedly at her list, probably evading his entertained stare. ‘Is he allergic to anything?’

‘Not to my knowledge. He doesn’t like sweet things though.’

And so it continued like that, small talk exchanged here and there until the basket was filled. Shirou was satisfied that they had the correct ingredients for him to make something of use to her elderly grandparent and Kishinami was visibly exhausted with the amount of one-on-one human interaction she had experienced in the span of less than a day. To say she was out of practice with such a thing was an understatement, after all. Going to work and being forced to speak with customers was the icing on the cake but she _was_ at the very least grateful for the help, bidding her new acquaintance a thank you and goodbye before heading to the café.

Shirou was left grinning at the entrance of the store, several bags hanging on each arm.

 

 

‘Why are you here?’

Her tone of voice wasn’t confrontational, just surprised.  It was almost as if she was getting used to the continued arrival of Shirou Emiya in her life. He merely raised a hand in acknowledgement, apron tied neatly around his front as he cut vegetables on the kitchen counter. ‘That doesn’t answer my question Emiya.’

Exhaling as she pulled a seat out from underneath the dining table, work uniform sleeves pulled back to reach her elbows and hair tied up in a messy bun, Kishinami watched her new babysitter prepare what looked to be some type of stew judging from both the ingredients and the smell that drifted into her nose. Didn’t he know this was technically breaking and entering? She had only given him permission to drop the bags and leave again. _What an awful criminal he is, cooking us a meal. Truly a dastardly man._

‘Your Grandfather is really nice, Kishinami. He let me in right away and told me to make myself at home, so I figured I could get started while you were at work. It takes a little while for the meat to cook after all,’ Shirou hummed, fingers expertly moving between different knives and chopping boards. Was he able to sense what she was _thinking_ now? ‘He’s in his bedroom, by the way. He said he wanted to rest for a little while.’

Kishinami frowned, leaning back in the chair with both hands pressed against the table. Of course he did—her Grandfather was notorious, or at least she felt he was, for being polite to everyone and anyone. The very _idea_ of her potentially making ‘friends’ in school was something she’d have to answer when she was faced with him again. This was a first, her bringing someone home, as indirectly as it was. The only other person that came to the house on a regular basis was her cousin—and she didn’t even live in the country.

 _Is this even friendship?_ She had no idea, but Shirou seemed pretty satisfied working away in her kitchen like a housewife. ‘… Want any help?’

‘Sure. Would you mind peeling the onions?’

From the moment he stepped into the kitchen, Shirou had noted it looked barely touched. He didn’t know if that was because their family didn’t cook or if it was for another reason. The way she handled the onion was quite clumsy too, though he held in his snicker. In his mind, he knew she just needed to be shown how to handle it correctly. Inexperience in the kitchen wasn’t something to be ashamed of; he just had a lot of practice.

She caught his eyes and huffed, disappointed at her failed endeavor. Telling her verbally that she had done it wrong would undoubtedly embarrass her further, so instead he picked up another onion and began demonstrating how to work with one without saying a single word. Even while looking down at the chopping board, he could feel her watching closely and once he was done she quickly grabbed another and got to work—this time, improving prominently in her technique.

Kishinami obviously didn’t want to tell him she wasn’t very knowing in the art of cooking and that was fine. Judging from the contents of some of the drawers in the house, it was clear she preferred readily available sweets when given the choice in food, having seen various popular brands scattered throughout the pantry. So, the method of cooking the meal continued in the form of Shirou demonstrating how to do something and Kishinami copying him immediately after. It resulted in a little bit of extra ingredients than what was needed for the dish, sure, but at least she seemed happy to learn. Her eyes had gotten brighter throughout their little exercise, her expression not as frustrated as she carefully moved the knife in her hand in an effort not to cut her fingers.

Honestly, Shirou was having fun.

He enjoyed helping Kishinami and he was pleasantly surprised at how entertained he was at her responses to every little thing. Before, he wouldn’t have been able to notice the subtle yet ever present changes in her passive manner. Their classmates were certainly in the same boat as he had been before. Yet, after spending even the shortest amount of time with her, the little gestures she made seemed to shine through. Her eyebrows furrowed when she was frustrated or upset, she bit the inside of her cheek when embarrassed or sometimes gnawed at her bottom lip instead depending on the situation. Her eyes were the most expressive though—they were all he really needed to understand whatever Kishinami’s mood was at the time.

Maybe she was right, maybe he really was a little _odd_.

 

 

‘A knight, huh. I didn’t think you were English, Kishinami.’

The two had made themselves comfortable on chairs across from one another at the table, dishes cleared away into the sink and her grandfather once again resting in his room. His statement made her raise an eyebrow as she took a sip from a glass of water. To Shirou, Kishinami appeared purely Japanese but there was no doubting what the elderly man had mentioned as they ate.

‘I’m not, I’m Japanese. I _was_ in a foreign hospital when I was younger though. I had to see a specific doctor when I was sick and he wasn’t based here so I was shipped to Europe. Grandfather adopted me then. We moved back to Japan before I started high school,’ her cup was placed down on the wooden surface gently as she traced a finger around the rim. ‘Granny’s passing probably made him want a change of scene now that I think about it. Where we used to live probably reminded him of her.’

For several minutes there was silence, Shirou dwelling on what she had said. It seemed as if their situations were not so different after all. Both had been adopted despite having different reasons for it happening. _Maybe her parents were sick too and that’s why they aren’t around?_ There was an endless amount of possibilities he could come up with as to what had happened in Kishinami’s past, but asking about it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Still, it reminded him of something he had remembered the previous evening as well as his own state of affairs at home.

‘You know Kishinami, when I saw you in first year at the entrance ceremony, I thought you looked familiar. I wonder why that was, since you were living abroad before that.’

The familiarity had struck him suddenly and faded just as fast. She looked at him directly once he said this rather than fidgeting with the glass, surprise ghosting over her features before she reassumed her usual expression.

‘… Strange, I thought the same,’ there was a pause before a small smile emerged on her face, the ends of her lips curling upwards and giving him the biggest shock he’d felt all week. He had never seen her smile before. ‘I used to have these… vivid dreams. Back when I was sick and always hooked up to different machines, I mean. My doctor told me they weren’t important, just a coping mechanism or something along those lines, but they always felt _real_. Like, as if they were something that happened to me in person. It’s pretty blurry trying to remember everything now but I do remember some things, like a guy in red. You reminded me of him when I first met you, sort of.’

‘Sort of?’

‘Like I said, I can’t really put it into words. All I remember was that he wore red and was kind of an asshole too.’

He nearly choked on his drink. ‘Do—do you think I- _I’m_ an asshole?’

It was Kishinami’s turn to snort now, putting down the glass in her hand to make sure the content’s wouldn’t spill as she spluttered out a giggle. Seeing her like this was new, seeing her cheeks light up and tears form in the corners of her eyes as she laughed at the sound of Shirou saying ‘asshole’. He liked it too, he _liked_ seeing her smile and even more than that, seeing her laugh made him feel a lightness in his chest he couldn’t recall feeling before.

‘No Emiya, I don’t think you’re an asshole. I mean, look at how you helped me out today—that’s the least asshole- _ish_ thing anyone has done for me since I moved back here,’ wiping a stray tear with a finger, she breathed in before continuing, composure gathered once more. ‘I told you, I can’t remember much. I was a kid, who knows why I dreamed that. It’s just—when I saw you, I thought back on those dreams and him in particular for whatever weird reason. Now I can’t even remember his face.’

Shirou, still quite pleased following her outburst, smiled back and brushed a hand through his messy hair. ‘Maybe it was a past life. I could have been a jerk to you then and now I’m trying to make amends?’ Saying it out loud made him realize how cheesy it sounded, but Kishinami seemed to genuinely consider the idea before scoffing.

‘Who knows? I don’t think people in the past were fighting on the Moon though. Even if history books are biased sometimes, I doubt they’d ignore such a huge technological advancement cropping up before its time. I probably just made it up like kids do, they have wild imaginations. But I like looking back on my dreams anyway. Even if he was an asshole, I always felt _safe_ when I woke up. It helped a lot. Being in the hospital was scary when I was by myself.’

It definitely sounded like a lonely situation.

Shirou had always had his family until the accident that took them away, but even after that he had Kiritsugu who adopted him after pulling his younger self from the wreckage. Kishinami’s grandfather had said over dinner that he hadn’t taken her in until she was thirteen, when his wife had heard of her situation and decided to make her a part of the family following a visit to a family member in the same hospital, another child sick at the same time. What exactly had been wrong with her was still unknown, but she spoke of both the hospital and her doctor with a deep dislike. He didn’t want to make her bring up something she obviously disliked any further than was necessary.

No, his ideal was focused on helping people like Kiritsugu had helped him, to offer his assistance wherever and whenever he could—and the prospect of someone who reminded her of him, who gave Kishinami comfort in her time of need, made him feel a vague sense of accomplishment however bizarre it was to feel that way about a dream.

But her having such dreams in her youth didn’t explain how _he_ had found Kishinami so familiar. What he had seen at that time was like a brief memory, an image of Kishinami in a different uniform in a different place standing next to a different him. Bringing that part up seemed even stranger than whatever dreams she had as a kid so he kept his mouth shut, shoulders sagging as he came to a not so pleasant realization he had felt numerous times before.

‘Kishinami, you were right.’

‘I know I was,’ she said, tone almost smug. However, once this was said, she hesitated and looked at him questioningly. ‘But which time are you talking about?’

‘I really am a weird guy, aren’t I?’

Kishinami simply snorted again, doubling over at his confession in yet another fit of laughter.

 

**Author's Note:**

> props if you noticed grandpa blackmore ft alice as a vaguely mentioned cousin.
> 
> i wanted to incorporate as many references to fate/extra as i could since its my favorite in the series but in the end i settled for the vague was it all a dream trope. it got a little long but i'm as happy with it as i can be.


End file.
